Hungry for success
Find Me A Maori Bride star Te Kohe Tuhaka has revealed how a teacher’s offer of a free lunch led to an acting career. Before that, Te Kohe, who plays suave lawyer John Mikaere in the Maori Television mockumentary series, had envisioned a sporting future. In
Find Me A Maori Bride, cousins Tama (Cohen Holloway) and George (Matariki Whatarau) must undertake a series of cultural challenges on their way to marrying a suitable wahine in a bid to inherit their grandmother’s fortune. John Mikaere is charged with making sure the grandmother’s demands are met. Sarah Nealon reports.
What can you tell us about your role on Find Me A Maori Bride in season two?
This season John Mikaere comes up with a great idea to bring a whole group of Maori brides to a place called Mana Manor. Mainly his focus is looking after the boys.
At what point in your life did you decide to become an actor?
My (third form) English teacher offered to buy me lunch to be part of the school production. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and the way to a man’s career choice is obviously the same way. I didn’t consider acting a viable career path. I wanted to be an All Black, just like every other young man of my generation and generations that are coming through at the moment. My eyes were opened to the possibility of considering acting as a career through Miranda Harcourt, who came to my high school when I was a teenager and was a
guest speaker at our prize giving. She said, ‘You can do this for a living’ and I said, ‘No, I can’t’. And she said, ‘Who said? You can’. No one had ever said that to me.
Do you come from a creative or artistic family?
No. I would say I came from a typical Maori family. I grew up rurally. My siblings, we all did kapa haka and performed with kapa haka groups but not to the extent of being exposed to any Western acting ways or anything like that. When I talk about acting and my time growing up, I had no role models because I didn’t know any Maori people who were doing it. I grew up in small-town Gisborne and I did what I felt was right and what my instincts told me. It’s been good for me so far.
Have you ever had to supplement your income with anything else?
I’m an actor 90 per cent of the time and the other time I get to be a personal trainer, which is the other thing I really love. Fitness and acting kind of go hand in hand. I tend to be predominantly working more as an actor, which can sometimes upset some clients, but it’s my dream job and I don’t want to do anything else. And why not be able to fill it up with another passion? I did consider being a policeman at one stage, but that was many years ago.
What was the last series you binge watched?
The second season of Narcos. If I had the opportunity I would love to work on that show. Most of the show is shot in Columbia and I found that really fascinating. By the third or fourth episode I was able to understand quite a bit of the language and it was nice to hear a native language being spoken. I love the guy who was playing Pablo Escobar. That’s the guy I’d like to work with.
What if they made you get fat and grow a moustache? Would you be up for that?
Yep. This is the craft that I live in and if that’s what’s required, that’s what’s required.
Which New Zealand actor would you like to work with?
Cliff Curtis would be awesome.
Would you ever try your luck in Hollywood?
Absolutely. The ultimate goal is to go global and tell stories on a global stage.